Is religious bigotry the GOP primary 'X-Factor'?
OPINION - Christian conservatives are once again injecting distracting wedge issues into the debate...
There is a very good reason that in 1802 Thomas Jefferson coined the phrase ”…wall of separation between the Church & State.”
Jefferson was expressing his support for the Danbury Baptists; a religious minority in Connecticut, who feared that a religious majority supported by the State might infringe upon their First Amendment right as individuals to freely exercise their religious beliefs. In 2011 this doctrine of strict separation between church doctrine and government policy is devolving into a religious cultural war between evangelical Christian politics and the constitutional construct of a secular American way of governance.
Today, an evangelical Christian minority is attempting to impose a narrow and sometimes bigoted interpretation of Christianity and “family values” onto the non-evangelical American majority.
This brand of evangelical Christian politics has a considerable influence over the political dialogue as Republican candidates vie for the 2012 presidential nomination.
Will this prove to be an X-factor in the 2012 general election?
Already, Christian conservatives are injecting distracting wedge issues into the debate.
The most recent examples of this are remarks made by Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain regarding former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s electability as a Mormon.
Cain has also spoken out against the construction of a mosque in Tennessee and has expressed a deep distrust of Muslims.
Republican candidates Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann are also catering to Evangelical Christian politics with wedge issues such as same-sex marriage, abortion rights, and so-called “pro-family” values.
Cain stated publicly what most Americans would prefer to ignore when he mentioned that Romney’s “religious problem” is a barrier to the GOP nomination. Cain stated, “Romney would be a good choice, but I don’t believe he can win…I know the South, and you have to win the South…when he ran the first time, he did not do a good job of communicating his religion. It doesn’t bother me, but I know it is an issue with a lot of Southerners.”
The issue is not as simple as Cain states but, the most recent Gallup poll from June 2011 found “nearly 20 percent of Republicans and independents saying they would not support a Mormon for president. That is slightly lower than the 27 percent of Democrats saying the same.” In the latest Pew Research Center poll, 34 percent of white evangelicals questioned stated they would be less likely to support a candidate who was Mormon.
The sentiments expressed in the survey would also apply to another Mormon: former Utah Governor and former Obama administration Ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman.
The perspectives reflected in the poll data are also perpetuated in Christian based journalism.
Warren Cole Smith, associate publisher of The World recently wrote, “Placing a Mormon in that pulpit (bully pulpit of the presidency) would be a source of pride and a shot of adrenaline for the LDS church. It would serve to normalize the false teachings of Mormonism the world over…To elect a Mormon President is to advance the cause of the Mormon Church.”
Concerns regarding Romney’s and Huntsman’s Mormon faith are as irrelevant as erroneous “birther” and “tea party” claims that President Obama is a Muslim. Article VI of the U.S. constitution specifies that “no religious test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”
As astute as Cain’s observations may be regarding Romney as a Republican candidate, his other statements about Mosque’s and Muslim’s feed right into the stereotypes driving this religious-xenophobic evangelical Christian bigotry.
Cain said in support of those opposed to building a Mosque in Murfreesboro, TN, when asked on Fox News Sunday, “so …any community, if they want to can ban a Mosque?” “Yes, they have the right to do that. That’s not discriminating based upon religion — against that particular religion.”
When asked if he would appoint a Muslim to his cabinet or as a federal judge, Cain stated, “”No, I will not…And here’s why: there is this creeping attempt, there is this attempt to gradually ease Sharia law and the Muslim faith into our government. It does not belong in our government. This is what happened in Europe…”
While Cain is busy offending Muslims, Texas Governor Rick Perry is an equal opportunity offender.
Perry recently convened a day-long prayer meeting at Houston’s Reliant Stadium. According to McClatchy news service, Perry prayed for Jesus to bless and guide the nation’s military and political leaders and “those who cannot see the light in the midst of all the darkness…” Over 50 Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders protested Perry’s involvement in the event by signing a statement claiming his involvement was “an official endorsement of one faith over all others, thereby sending an official message of religious exclusion and preference to all Texans who do not share that faith.”
Concern and interest in issues such as same-sex marriage, abortion rights, Islam’s influence in America, and gay rights are not unique to evangelical Christians. The concern for most Americans should be the manner in which evangelicals are injecting their conservative religious ideals into the political dialogue. They risk creating an evangelical Christian politics that corrupts the secular American way of governance as they push towards constitutional amendments to impose their narrow ideology on the entire nation.
Herman Cain was correct in expressing his concern, saying, “we have a First Amendment. And I get upset when the Muslims in this country — some of them — try to force their Sharia law onto the rest of us.”
What applies to Muslims should apply to Christians.
Many Americans are just as concerned that evangelical/conservative Christians are forcing their narrow interpretation of Christianity on the country.
Dr. Wilmer Leon is the Producer/ Host of the nationally broadcast call-in talk radio program “Inside the Issues with Wilmer Leon,” and a Teaching Associate in the Department of Political Science at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dr-Leons-Prescription/153740671347310 www.twitter.com/drwleon
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